This report aims to throw light on just that. The results of this report were compiled by conducting a survey, in which over 900 participants gave us their opinions on recruiters of various cohorts (Please check the end of this article for links to other InsideIIM Recruitment Survey Reports).

The tables below take into account three important viewpoints: That of Aspirants, Current Students and Alumni. Aspirants' opinions bring forward how visible a brand is to them via various media, while Post - MBA professionals give a realistic view of the job roles offered by recruiters. Current Students give an intermediate perspective as they have the pre-requisite knowledge of various Recruitment Companies and the eclectic variety of job profiles offered by them.

Based on past data, Sales & Marketing roles have been the most preferred domain for current students of B-Schools. Apart from the glamour around working for known consumer brands that everyone recognises, it is also the reality that most roles are offered in this domain on the majority of the campuses. The top Finance and Consulting roles are offered on a handful of campuses.

Sales and Marketing

The observation here is that since the time the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey began in 2012, Unilever has topped the rankings almost every year among each respondent category. Despite the fact that Tech giants also offer Sales & Marketing roles and their almost irrational popularity, Unilever has held its own. There is a clear dip in P&G's ranking among MBA Aspirants.

A) Post - MBA Professionals

Coca-Cola is missing from the list. So is Pepsi. Probably a sign that the Cola giants are not as popular as they once were. A decade back they would be one of the dream companies that fresh b-school graduates would want to have joined. Today they barely make the Top 10 across categories. Reckitt Benckiser has edged over the likes of giants Google, Facebook, and Nestle. The rest of the list remains the same as that of 2016.

B) Current Students

Amazon and Facebook are the two new entrants in the list, after missing out on a place in 2016. Facebook, after dropping its Free Basics initiative in 2017, finds India as its biggest market, outdoing even the United States which is the tech giant's home-base. This could be a hint towards greater campus recruitment and more exciting prospects for current students. Google's jump from being last to being the 2nd most preferred recruiter could indicate that the Search Giant could be adopting more aggressive recruitment processes, as it expands its horizons in India. Amazon's re-entry could be attributed to the fact that it is expanding in India, with the company aiming to double its storage capacity in the country, which will create approximately 5000 more jobs.

C) Aspirants

The big brands have shifted very little from previous years' reports. As can be observed, the brands listed are the most popular and leading brands, which goes on to prove that only perception has been the deciding criterion for Aspirants' preferences. Older brands such as Coca-Cola and Asian Paints may be losing their relevance when compared to Technology and E-Commerce giants such as Google and Amazon, which are perceived as more exciting organisations to work for. Google's work culture is known to be extravagant in terms of its services for employees.

FMCG

If we look at the FMCG Space alone, again there is a clear pattern that emerges - Cola makers are not cool places to work at anymore. It is visible across categories. They barely make the Top 5. Nestle and RB are the next most desired on average. What is interesting is that Aspirants don't know what RB is - if we had asked them to rank Dettol or Durex, the ranking would have been very different in the Aspirant list. L'Oreal's lack of presence in the top 10 for current students is very surprising given the amount of work the company does in order to engage with campus students.